An internal investigation by Oregon State University found that LLCs owned by Brent Blaylock, the school’s former deputy executive athletic director, had no relationship to Blueprint Sports, the NIL consulting firm the university hired this summer.
The investigation spawned from an Oregon State fan podcast, which raised suspicion about the timing of the creation and restructuring of Blaylock’s personal LLCs in relation to the OSU-Blueprint agreement. In a report issued last week and reviewed by SportyOSU’s Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance determined that the overlap “appears to be coincidental.”
“The investigation procedures conducted support the deputy/COO’s assertion that these LLCs were established to facilitate current and planned rentals of residential properties and were unrelated to the activities of Blueprint Sports or any other aspect of his position at OSU,” David Terry, the school’s compliance chief, wrote in an executive summary memorandum to athletic director Scott Barnes.
Blaylock voluntarily cooperated in the investigation, providing documents and sitting for an interview with school auditors. The former Beavers athletic official left the school in late October amid controversy surrounding his role in OSU’s decision to sign the revenue-sharing consulting agreement with Blueprint Sports.
An OSU spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Belligerent Beavs published an article on its website in early November questioning corporate entities Blaylock had set up in Arizona and Oregon during his tenure in the athletic departments at Arizona and Oregon State. In response, the school gave a statement to the podcast saying it takes all conflict-of-interest allegations seriously.
Blaylock denied any impropriety in a statement to Sporty last month. He said the LLCs were organized for rental property management and estate planning purposes. He added that, out of an abundance of caution and to clear his name, he had decided to provide corporate filings and other documents to his former employer, so that it could confirm as much.
In a subsequent statement Saturday, Blaylock said the audit’s conclusions should put to rest suspicions that he claims have damaged his career and threatened his family.
“I welcomed the independent investigation that OSU conducted and was fully transparent throughout the process knowing that there has never been any connection between my personal affairs and my professional responsibilities,” Blaylock said. “These baseless narratives have attacked my reputation and put my family at risk. I am grateful to have this matter resolved and behind me.”
Blaylock added that although his resignation from Oregon State was “unrelated to these allegations…they have weighed on me as I conduct myself with character and integrity.”
Emails obtained by Sporty showed Blaylock as OSU’s primary point of contact with Blueprint Sports in the lead up to the deal being executed.
On Sep. 15, after Sporty made a public records request for the contract, Blueprint Sports CEO Rob Sine emailed Blaylock, writing, “So you foresee any issues with this?”
Blaylock responded: “There shouldn’t be any issues. It certainly isn’t optimal, but part of being a public university which I’m sure you’ve seen with other partners.”
Three days later, Blaylock emailed Barnes in response to a note that had been sent to several OSU officials, and CC’d to sports journalist John Canzano, accusing Blaylock of enriching himself from the Blueprint deal.
“This has got to stop,” Blaylock wrote to Barnes.
Public suspicion and outcry further escalated after Sporty published details about the OSU-Blueprint deal on Sep. 30. According to the agreement, Blueprint would retain 75% of net direct revenue it obtained or processed below $1.15 million, and half of net direct revenue above that threshold. In addition, the school agreed to pay an annual management fee to the company that began at $280,000 in Year 1.
Canzano and other news outlets have since reported that the agreement is being terminated, but neither the school nor company have so far publicly confirmed that.
